Average Modesto gas price up 7 cents in past week

California motorists have been on the receiving end of an unwelcome holiday surprise: rising gas prices that run counter to a continuing price decrease nationwide.

The average retail price of gas in the Modesto area rose 7 cents over the past week to $2.51 a gallon, according to national gas price tracker GasBuddy.com’s daily survey of 201 gas outlets in the area.

The current price is 1.7 cents per gallon higher than it was one year ago and 1.4 cents higher than a month ago.

GasBuddy’s report Tuesday on the lowest prices in the past 48 hours showed the cheapest gas at $2.21 per gallon at the National station at Sixth and L streets. That’s the cash price; customers using credit cards pay 10 cents more.

“We try to stay the cheapest price, always,” manager Nicole Gilson said. “A lot of people definitely like the cash price.”

She clarified that “cash” includes debit cards, and there’s no fee for using debit. Customers “actually come in to use the ATM machine so they can pay with cash,” Gilson said. “I tell them they don’t have to do that; they can just pay with debit.”

Stockton resident Rattana Pok was fueling up at National on Tuesday morning. It was convenience – the station is near a Highway 99 onramp – not price that brought him to the station.

“I just left the courthouse and needed gas before I got on the freeway,” said Pok, who is a Cambodian-English court interpreter. He said he sometimes gases up at National but usually hits the pumps at Costco.

The Modesto Costco was charging $2.27 a gallon Tuesday. Several stations were selling for $2.25 per gallon: in Modesto, the Arco at 2301 Crows Landing Road; in Ceres, Arco at 3936 Mitchell Road; in Turlock, Costco and the Arco stations at 1801 Lander Ave. and 2219 Lander; and in Waterford at the Waterford Market at 12828 Yosemite Blvd., and Triple R at 12237 Bentley St.

The highest price around, GasBuddy reported Tuesday morning, was $3.29 at the Valero station at 1097 Yosemite Ave. in Escalon. The highest reported Modesto price was $2.79 at the Chevron station at Pelandale Avenue and Sisk Road.

Things are worse in Southern California. GasBuddy said the average retail price of gas in the Los Angeles area on Monday was $3.05 a gallon, which has helped push the statewide average to $2.85 a gallon.

Meanwhile, the national average continues to fall amid plentiful supplies and low crude oil prices. On Tuesday, the average retail price of gas was $2 a gallon, down from $2.04 last month and $2.27 a year ago.

Allison Mac, a Los Angeles-based petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said the recent spikes were tied to a flurry of breakdowns and “maintenance issues” at multiple Golden State refineries that produce the specific blend of gas required in California.

“It’s an ongoing headache,” Mac said. “Another problem is a lack of gasoline imports. Up until recently, supplies were good and prices were low, so (California) was not importing gasoline. Now, with the refinery problems, it has become a supply-and-demand issue.”

Mac said the list of ongoing refinery disruptions includes a Chevron facility in El Segundo and Tesoro facilities in Martinez, Carson and Wilmington. She also noted that the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance remains crippled by an explosion there in February.

Mac noted that repair and maintenance work at the affected refineries will continue into early January, so California gasoline prices could continue to rise “for another week or so.”

GasBuddy analysts said California’s problems have kept the national average price of gas from falling even lower.

“(Thirty-eight) states lowering gas prices wasn’t enough to move the national average significantly, a testament to the severity of California’s gas price hike,” said Will Speer, a Houston-based analyst for GasBuddy. “As the refining issues impacting California aren’t expected to be resolved this week, California will continue to inflate the national gas price average into the new year.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Average Modesto gas price up 7 cents in past week."